“Bel & Bel is a creative studio-workshop opened in 2006. It is located in Viladecans (Barcelona). It is a seventeenth century country estate house which, after a thorough process of rehabilitation, became our creative space where developing our creations.”

Bel & Bel’s artists write: “We admire the brilliant design of classical vehicles as the legendary Vespa Scooter or our beloved SEAT 600. From that admiration we began to work with these old pieces in order to give validity to its great style.”

“We are young, creative and contemporary artists. We appreciate the Art surrounding us, we live it and we adapt it.
For us, there are other ways of approaching Art to the public apart from Museums and galleries. From this intention we decided to create an open art space.
From the opening of our space, we have tried to open our as a meeting point for other artists, film makers, musicians, etc with the aim of finding a common ground to set up and share projects.”
Have a look at Bel & Bel’s porfolio and enjoy their creative-eco minds!

“Our dream is to help the next generation look at “junk” with an eye to re-use. For the past three years, we’ve created and managed the Art in the Schools Bench Project funded by Cracked Pots. As a part of Art Literacy, students study assemblage art, look at pictures of junk, and create drawings of a bench. Inspired by these drawings, an artist is commissioned to create a bench for permanent display at the school.”

“The School Bus Bench ”
2006 Bench from Recycled Materials – Bridgeport Elementary School
by David Feldt

“Catch & Release ”
2007 Bench from Recycled Materials – Tualatin Elementary School
by David Feldt

“Kinnaman in Harmony – A Song of Sustainability”
2007 Bench from Recycled Materials – Kinnaman Elementary School
by Frank Roll Jr.

Tomakeyousmile wants to expand this program to give children the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the project: “We’d love to see older students involved in the making of the bench or creating other art from “junk”. “

To make a donation or find out all the details have a look at the tomakeyousmile’s blog and enjoy!

Last Spring, Eco-Design Fair teamed up with Regenersis – The UK’s biggest mobile phone recycling company, to run a design competition during Love London Green Festival 2009. Designers were invited to create an original and innovative product suitable for any sort of domestic use; from a piece of jewellery to an item of furniture, using old mobile handsets as raw material.

Amazing ideas and designs join the competition and finally:
First Prize goes to Claire Potter for Conversation Chair 

Runners up:

Anna Kompaniets for Hat and Georgie Tym for Handbag.

Alle details at Eco Design Fair

Its name is The Pallet Project. It has been projected by Nina Tolstrup of StudioMama, defined by herself as “sustainable, accessible and an agent of social change”. The furniture collection is made from disused pallets – a source of cheap, often wasted, wood. The raw material is easy to find and the instructions are available to download from www.studiomama.com. Enjoy to try yourself to made your personal pallet-chair.

The Pallet Project has been introduced at 100% Design and exposed at Gallery Jacqueline Rabun in London until the half of October. An art gallery for a project like this? Yes, because three British artists have customized Pallet Lo Chairs which has been auctioned for charity. They are Gavin Turk, Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread.

The proceeds of the auction will go to found a workshop in Lugano, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. Here, using Nina’s instructions, gallery owner and charity worker Cecilia Gilk has taught unemployed people to make the Pallet Chair in their co-operative. So, in this way, discarded pallets will be turned into saleable furniture, with the hope to help people in poverty to improve their lives.

A collection of newly designed pallet furniture and accessoried made by Nina Tolstrup will be view and on sale at Jacqueline Rabun’s shop in Belgravia.